Ketogenic Diet, Gut Health/Cholesterol Issues

An August 2024 study by the University of Bath said,

• “Despite reducing fat mass, the ketogenic diet increased the levels of unfavourable fats in the blood of our participants, which, if sustained over years, could have long-term health implications such as increased risk of heart disease and stroke.”

•  “Dietary fibre is essential for the survival of beneficial gut bacteria like Bifidobacteria. The ketogenic diet reduced fibre intake to around 15 grams per day, half the NHS recommended intake. This reduction in Bifidobacteria might contribute to significant long-term health consequences such as an increased risk of digestive disorders like irritable bowel disease, increased risk of intestinal infection and a weakened immune function.”

• “The ketogenic diet reduced fasting glucose levels but also reduced the body’s ability to handle carbs from a meal. By measuring proteins in muscle samples taken from participants’ legs, we think this is probably an adaptive response to eating less carbohydrates day-to-day and reflects insulin resistance to storing carbs in muscle. This insulin resistance is not necessarily a bad thing if people are following a ketogenic diet, but if these changes persist when people switch back to a higher carbohydrate diet it could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the long-term”

• “The ketogenic diet is effective for fat loss, but it comes with varied metabolic and microbiome effects that may not suit everyone. In contrast, sugar restriction supports government guidelines for reducing free sugar intake, promoting fat loss without apparen­­t negative health impacts.”

cholesterol and predicting heart disease

An August 2022 study by the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland said, 

• “The goal was to understand this long-established link that labels HDL as the beneficial cholesterol, and if that’s true for all ethnicities,” 

• “It’s been well accepted that low HDL cholesterol levels are detrimental, regardless of race. Our research tested those assumptions.”  

• “What I hope this type of research establishes is the need to revisit the risk-predicting algorithm for cardiovascular disease,” 

• “It could mean that in the future we don’t get a pat on the back by our doctors for having higher HDL cholesterol levels.”  

• “When it comes to risk factors for heart disease, they cannot be limited to one race or ethnicity …They need to apply to everyone.”  

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)’s Division of Cardiovascular Sciences said,

• “HDL cholesterol has long been an enigmatic risk factor for cardiovascular disease,” 

• “The findings suggest that a deeper dive into the epidemiology of lipid metabolism is warranted, especially in terms of how race may modify or mediate these relationships.” 

Daily Walnuts to reduce LDL Cholesterol, Cardiovascular Disease

An August 2021 study by the Lipid Clinic at the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona in Spain said, 

• “Prior studies have shown that nuts in general, and walnuts in particular, are associated with lower rates of heart disease and stroke. One of the reasons is that they lower LDL-cholesterol levels, and now we have another reason: they improve the quality of LDL particles,” 

• “LDL particles come in various sizes. Research has shown that small, dense LDL particles are more often associated with atherosclerosis, the plaque or fatty deposits that build up in the arteries. Our study goes beyond LDL cholesterol levels to get a complete picture of all of the lipoproteins and the impact of eating walnuts daily on their potential to improve cardiovascular risk.”

• “While this is not a tremendous decrease in LDL cholesterol, it’s important to note that at the start of the study all our participants were quite healthy, free of major non-communicable diseases. However, as expected in an elderly population, close to 50% of participants were being treated for both high blood pressure and hypercholesterolemia. Thanks in part to statin treatment in 32%, the average cholesterol levels of all the people in our study were normal,” 

• “For individuals with high blood cholesterol levels, the LDL cholesterol reduction after a nut-enriched diet may be much greater.”

• “Eating a handful of walnuts every day is a simple way to promote cardiovascular health. Many people are worried about unwanted weight gain when they include nuts in their diet,” 

• “Our study found that the healthy fats in walnuts did not cause participants to gain weight.”

Avocados and cholesterol

A July 2022 study at Penn State University said, 

“While the avocados did not affect belly fat or weight gain, the study still provides evidence that avocados can be a beneficial addition to a well-balanced diet,”

“Incorporating an avocado per day in this study did not cause weight gain and also caused a slight decrease in LDL cholesterol, which are all important findings for better health.”

“While one avocado a day did not lead to clinically significant improvements in abdominal fat and other cardiometabolic risk factors, consuming one avocado a day did not result in body weight gain,”

“This is positive because eating extra calories from avocados doesn’t impact body weight or abdominal fat, and it slightly decreases total and LDL-cholesterol.”

Milk, Cholesterol: no link

A May 2021 study by the Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics at the University of Reading said,

• "We found that among participants with a genetic variation that we associated with higher milk intake, they had higher BMI, body fat, but importantly had lower levels of good and bad cholesterol. We also found that those with the genetic variation had a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease. All of this suggests that reducing the intake of milk might not be necessary for preventing cardiovascular diseases."

• "The study certainly shows that milk consumption is not a significant issue for cardiovascular disease risk even though there was a small rise in BMI and body fat among milk drinkers. What we do note in the study is that it remains unclear whether it is the fat content in dairy products that is contributing to the lower cholesterol levels or it is due to an unknown 'milk factor'".

Blood pressure & cholesterol: less sitting

A June 2021 study at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania said,

• "The current American Heart Association guidelines for diagnosing high blood pressure and cholesterol recognize that otherwise healthy individuals with mildly or moderately elevated levels of these cardiovascular risk factors should actively attempt to reduce these risks. The first treatment strategy for many of these patients should be healthy lifestyle changes beginning with increasing physical activity," 

• "Increasing physical activity can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, along with many other health benefits." 

• "Every little bit of activity is better than none,”

• "Even small initial increases of 5 to 10 minutes a day can yield health benefits."

• "In our world where physical activity is increasingly engineered out of our lives and the overwhelming default is to sit - and even more so now as the nation and the world is practicing quarantine and isolation to reduce the spread of coronavirus - the message that we must be relentless in our pursuit to 'sit less and move more' throughout the day is more important than ever,"

Dietary cholesterol or egg consumption and the risk of stroke

A May 2019 study by the University of Eastern Finland found that dietary cholesterol that is moderately high or one egg a day does not increase the risk of a stroke.

1 egg = 200 mg cholesterol.

Cholesterol Levels Slightly High

My annual blood tests show HDL/LDL cholesterol rates are slightly high.  It’s been at least three years since I had them tested and may not reflect the direction in which they are going, given my recent “Eat Clean & Train” programme.

I resolve to keep

• Increasing the amount of fibre, fruit and vegetables in my diet

• The gym programme (strength training – bench press, deadlifts and squats, every other day)

• Focused on reaching my annually-set personal weight and BMI targets

And to get my blood tests done annually now.

Cholesterol and the Elderly

A June 2016 study by the University of South Florida found that, “several studies reported not only a lack of association between low LDL-C, but most people in these studies exhibited an inverse relationship, which means that higher LDL-C among the elderly is often associated with longer life,"

Cholesterol: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

An August 2019 study by the University of Copenhagen concluded, in part, that, “the most important thing you yourself can do to achieve the lowest possible level of remnant cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood is to maintain a normal body weight.”

Eureka kindly explains, “The three kinds of cholesterol:

Remnant cholesterol = “ugly” cholesterol: the cholesterol content in triglyceride-rich lipoproteins or remnant particles. Elevated remnant cholesterol leads to cardiovascular disease.

LDL cholesterol = “bad” cholesterol: the cholesterol content in low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Elevated LDL cholesterol leads to cardiovascular disease.

HDL cholesterol = "good" cholesterol = innocent cholesterol: the cholesterol content in high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Levels of HDL cholesterol does not affect cardiovascular disease risk.”

Multiple Sclerosis - Cholesterol -Fatigue

An August 2019 study by University at Buffalo found, “"Higher levels of HDL had the greatest impact on fatigue … possibly because good cholesterol plays a critical role in muscle, stimulating glucose uptake and increasing respiration in cells to improve physical performance and muscle strength … Fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis has been viewed as a complex and difficult clinical problem with contributions from disability, depression and inflammation. Our study implicates lipids and fat metabolism in fatigue ... This is a novel finding that may open doors to new approaches for treating fatigue."